Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya said on Tuesday, June 8, the new UN Security Council resolution will usher in a new, historic turning point in the Iraqi political process and represents a new page in the relationship between the United Nations and Iraq.

Resolution 1546, endorsed unanimously by the Security Council on Tuesday afternoon, constitutes "a milestone that marks an end to the past and a beginning to the future," Wang said in a statement after the adoption of the resolution at an open meeting of the Security Council.

The resolution will help promote stability and development in Iraq and further strengthen the authority and role of the Security Council, he said.

Wang said the resolution endorses the formation of the Iraqi interim government, reaffirms the right of Iraqi people to freely determine their own political future and control their own natural and financial resources, reaffirms the principle of the reassertion of full Iraqi sovereignty, and demonstrates the commitment of the international community to assist the completion of the Iraqi political process.

Wang said China is convinced that with the end to the occupation and transfer of sovereignty, the Iraqi people will make unremitting efforts to overcome all obstacles in their way to resume the path of peace, democracy and development, and make new contributions to regional peace and stability and the advancement of civilization.

He said the resolution is the result of joint efforts of all Security Council members, who actively participated in consultations in search for consensus in a constructive spirit andwith a pragmatic and cooperative approach.

He said China is gratified that many proposals tabled by council members including China have been taken into account in the resolution, which embodies the political principle of Iraqi sovereignty and Iraqi affairs run by Iraqis.

Wang said the resolution will turn the relationship between the United Nations and Iraq into one of partners with shared objectives. Iraq will resume its place in the UN family on an equal footing and the UN on its part will continue to make greater contributions to the Iraqi people, he said.

"The debates around the issue of Iraq and the process of handling the issue in the past year may have served to enlighten us that in the current complex situation, solutions of major international issues need collective wisdom, enhanced international cooperation and the rule of the UN and the Security Council. This is the necessity of history and reality and the only viable choice of the international community," he said.

Wang said the Chinese government and people have always been closely following the Iraqi situation. "The hearts of the peoples of China and Iraq have always been joined together. We deeply sympathize with them in their sufferings as a result of sanctions and wars and have provided with them assistance to the best of our ability," he said.

Wang said China looks forward to friendly cooperation with the interim Iraqi government and future elected government on all fronts. "We stand ready to participate in Iraq's economic reconstruction, and continue to contribute to a better Iraq."